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Fasting in Protest, July 20, 2006
Fasting in Protest
Anti-war activists get out of their comfort zones
Hartford Advocate
by Hannah Charry
July 20, 2006In lieu of cake, Vietnam veteran John Woods, 60, of Hartford, sacrificed a birthday celebration to begin a two-month period of hunger striking one day a week. He is among fasters nationwide some who are eating from time to time, some who won´t be eating at all who are joining together to try to bring American troops home from Iraq.
Troops Home Fast is a mission organized by the Washington D.C.-based non-profit Code Pink. Working mothers and housewife activists launched the campaign on July 4. The women ate their final meal in front of the White House and now have over 4,100 going hungry. They have pledged to stop their juice and water fasts on International Peace Day, September 21, or when a clear plan to end the U.S. presence in Iraq is announced. During the weeks leading up to the 21st, protesters will hold vigils in front of Camp Casey, the gathering place of anti-war protesters outside of President Bush´s Texas ranch.
Woods, an American history professor at Manchester Community College and other places, will fast every Friday until the vigil. His anti-war stance is in part something that he attributes to the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder he developed upon returning from Vietnam where he served with U.S. forces as an interrogator in 1969. Woods left for Vietnam on April 4, 1968 and returned 12 months and 27 days later.
¨What moves me to get connected with younger vets is a sense that there wasn´t any such thing for us,¨ he said. ¨A lot of emotions arise for me during patriotic holidays. I feel a sense of grieving for a nation that got lost.¨
Woods says he discovered Code Pink while frequenting political blogs. He goes online often to talk to soldiers stationed in Iraq.
Students at Trinity College are taking note. At 5´4, 118 pounds, senior Kat West will be fasting five days a week.
¨I think people will start to ask me questions about losing weight. ... I hope to remind people who are largely unaffected by the war that there are real human costs to this invasion of Iraq,¨ she said.
The philosophy major is an activist and has attended many politically charged conferences. In March, both West and Wood were present at an anti-war rally downtown.
¨I worry that we are a very insular and uneducated society,¨ said West. ¨I worry that American people care more about their clothing and cars than they do about the material well being of humans living here and in other nations.¨v
Code Pink co-founder Diane Wilson is pleased to see that the protest is spanning age and interest groups. The Texas native was reached by phone while camping outside the White House this week. She handed out pamphlets to passers-by while fielding questions in the 95-degree heat.
¨We´ve lobbied, we´ve demonstrated, written letters and made phone calls. They´re not listening to us. To be a real peacemaker, you have to be willing to take the same risk as the war makers. It must disrupt your life. (Until now) we´ve been scared of getting out of our comfort zones,¨ she said.
The commercial fisherwoman and mother of five holds experiences that compel her toward extreme measures. She traveled to Iraq before the war began and has relatives who are stationed there. Her work in San Antonio as a medic for returning Vietnam soldiers opened her eyes to the reality of war. This is Wilson´s longest hunger campaign to date, totaling 31 days. She is now on a water-only open-ended fast.
¨When I was in Baghdad, I wandered everywhere by myself. I occasionally got lost, but people always guided me back. They loved Americans. When asked about a possible invasion, they were able to differentiate between the Bush administration and American people. I´m not sure if that´s the case anymore,¨ Wilson said.
Code Pink funded a May peace ad campaign published in eight Iraqi newspapers.
¨Anywhere we can make a link, we´ll reach for it. We´re trying to touch every angle we can work with. There isn´t anybody we want to exclude, except maybe Klansmen, but that´s about it.¨